President Donald Trump informed Congress on Friday that he believes no authorization is required for military operations in Iran, citing a ceasefire. This declaration comes despite the conflict reaching its 60-day threshold this week, a period typically triggering the War Powers Resolution.<\/p>\n
In letters addressed to both the House and the Senate, Trump stated, \u201cOn April 7, 2026, I ordered a two-week ceasefire.\u201d He further elaborated, \u201cThe ceasefire has since been extended. There has been no exchange of fire between the United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite proclaiming the termination of hostilities, the President acknowledged, \u201cDespite the success of United States operations against the Iranian regime and continued efforts to secure a lasting peace, the threat posed by Iran to the United States and our Armed Forces remains significant.\u201d He pledged to keep congressional leaders informed of future developments.<\/p>\n
This week, congressional leaders faced increasing pressure regarding potential votes on a formal war authorization, a debate intensified by the ongoing situation.<\/p>\n
The 1973 War Powers Resolution mandates that a president seek congressional authorization for military conflicts extending beyond 60 days. While the law permits a 30-day extension for troop withdrawal, Trump’s letter made no mention of this provision.<\/p>\n
Trump asserted his constitutional authority, writing, \u201cI have and will continue to direct United States Armed Forces consistent with my responsibilities and pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. military actions against Iran commenced on February 28, with the Trump administration notifying Congress on March 2, thereby initiating the 60-day countdown for the War Powers Resolution.<\/p>\n
A temporary ceasefire, effective April 8, was intended to facilitate negotiations and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, these talks have yet to yield results. Iran has obstructed traffic in the strait, while the U.S. maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports. This blockade is enforced by a substantial military presence, including over 100 aircraft, two carrier strike groups, and more than a dozen ships. Notably, a Navy destroyer engaged and struck an Iranian-flagged cargo ship attempting to breach the blockade.<\/p>\n
Legal experts have largely questioned the administration’s interpretation. Michael Glennon, a professor of constitutional and international law at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, told NBC News that Trump\u2019s argument is \u201ca stretch\u201d and that he doesn’t believe \u201cthe administration is correct in arguing that the clock has stopped.\u201d Glennon, who has extensive experience with the War Powers Resolution, asserted, \u201cThe hostilities are continuing as a consequence of the administration\u2019s enforcement of the blockade. That\u2019s not a ceasefire. It\u2019s not a suspension of hostilities… But the war has not ended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen Pomper, chief of policy at the International Crisis Group and former senior director at the National Security Council, echoed these concerns, calling the naval blockade \u201ca hostile act,\u201d \u201can act of war,\u201d and one that \u201cputs U.S. troops at risk.\u201d He questioned, \u201cSo, if this isn\u2019t a situation that\u2019s covered by the definition of hostilities, what is?\u201d<\/p>\n
Leading Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), and Jim Himes (D-Conn.), issued a joint statement Friday, contending that the ceasefire does not halt the War Powers Resolution clock. They stated, \u201cHostilities have not ceased; both sides are enforcing naval blockades through military force.\u201d They further criticized the conflict as \u201can unauthorized war of choice based on a demonstrably false premise of an imminent Iranian threat,\u201d highlighting the absence of congressional authorization after 60 days.<\/p>\n
When questioned by reporters, Trump justified not seeking authorization by claiming, \u201cit\u2019s never been sought before.\u201d He elaborated, \u201cThere\u2019s been numerous, many, many times, and nobody\u2019s ever gotten it before. They consider it totally unconstitutional… Nobody\u2019s ever asked for it before. Nobody\u2019s ever asked for it before. It\u2019s never been used before. Why should we be different?\u201d<\/p>\n
Historically, presidents have varied in their approach to congressional authorization. President Barack Obama, in 2011, argued against seeking approval for operations in Libya, stating that \u201cU.S. operations do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve U.S. ground troops.\u201d Conversely, both George W. Bush (2001, 2002) and George H.W. Bush (1991) sought and received congressional authorization for military conflicts in the Middle East. Notably, Congress recently repealed the 2002 and 1991 authorizations for the use of military force.<\/p>\n
Matt Waxman, a Columbia Law School professor and former senior official in the George W. Bush administration, commented that while a ceasefire could<\/em> theoretically reset the War Powers Resolution clock, \u201cthe facts make that claim hard to defend in this case.\u201d He noted, \u201cAmerican forces are still enforcing a blockade militarily, and the administration continually emphasizes that it has amassed a huge force in the Gulf that\u2019s imminently ready to destroy Iran. So, the administration is trying to have it both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) supported the administration’s stance, telling NBC News, \u201cwe\u2019re not at war.\u201d He added, \u201cI don\u2019t think we have an active, kinetic military bombing, firing or anything like that. Right now, we are trying to broker a peace.\u201d Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, also downplayed the 60-day threshold, stating, \u201cwe are in a ceasefire right now, which, our understanding, means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n #TrumpIran #WarPowersResolution #CongressionalAuthority #IranCeasefire #NavalBlockade #USForeignPolicy #ConstitutionalLaw #MiddleEastConflict #USCongress #NationalSecurity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Donald Trump informed Congress on Friday that he believes no authorization is required for military operations in Iran, citing a ceasefire. This declaration comes despite the conflict reaching its 60-day threshold this week, a period typically triggering the War Powers Resolution. Trump’s Rationale: A Ceasefire Declaration In letters addressed to both the House and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Administration and Congressional Allies Defend Position<\/h2>\n